Spring Dance Concert: “Do I Dare Disturb the Universe”

﻿As the last dance concert of the school year, Chadwick Dance Company’s Spring Dance Concert served as a great platform for performers of all classes to interact and work with each other.

“I choreographed a solo that was performed by sophomore Olivia Dulai,” said senior Emma Mizrahi-Powell. “By practicing the dance with her, I was able to make changes, fine tune and instill more emotional depth in the dance.”

The concert, which took place April 15 in the Laverty Center for the Performing Arts, consisted of student-choreographed works as well as a few special performances.

“For starters, there was the annual faculty piece during the concert,” said Kindra Windish, head of the dance department. “Kindergarteners participated in the annual seniors piece as well.”

With the theme of “Do I Dare Disturb the Universe,” each piece related to a line from T.S. Elliot’s The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock. The theme itself was based on that poem, and audience members were able to hear a “Do I Dare” statement from each piece.

“For me, this poem was very special because it added to the meaning of the concert,” said senior Kim Zak, a student choreographer. “The concert embodied an interpretation of this poem that challenged the choreographers, dancers and audience to push the boundaries of their own personal realm of possibility.”

Over the five weeks the dance team had to prepare for the concert, 16 pieces were developed as a result of students’ creativity and hard work.

“No two pieces looked the same,” Zak said. “Each piece was unique and creative in the way it told its own story. Although there were different styles of dance incorporated, such as lyrical or hip-hop, each piece attempted to deliver a different message to the audience.”

To the 12 student choreographers who went through the audition process to have their pieces performed, this special experience was both challenging and rewarding. Although students who were interested in creating their own piece had to take a mandatory choreography class to learn the fundamentals, the audition process itself proved to be less stressful.

“I videotaped the rough draft of my piece, explained the concept of it, and sent the video to be reviewed,” said Mizrahi-Powell. “Although I had to work hard and develop the dance well beforehand, the audition served as more of an opportunity than a struggle because it allowed me to receive constructive feedback on my work and improve my dance going forward.”

The surprise guest dancer was Maya Zellman, who is a professional dancer from the Los Angeles Valley College Dance Program. Her special addition to the concert gave the students an opportunity to try something new and be able to challenge themselves in a unique way.

“Maya Zellman created a fun and energetic hip-hop piece that added to the diversity of the genres of dance present in the concert,” Zak said. “Her contribution to our concert was definitely an important one, and I was able to learn a lot from her presence.”

Overall, Dance Company team members were satisfied with the quality of the concert, and that their hard work had paid off. Although there were constant pressures of time constraint placed upon the performers, the full experience proved to be richly rewarding.

“To be honest, not as many people came to support us as in previous years,” Zak said. “The size of the audience, however, doesn’t dictate the quality of the experience. So even though it can be nice to perform for a full house, the fact that fewer people came to view it didn’t affect my positive experience with the concert.”